Dare

Neville's Point of View

*****

I had never felt more betrayed than I had this morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It was bad enough to have to deal with Snape before last year, but to have him return to teach after killing Dumbledore... well, that was an insult to the memory of a true hero.

But even so, I could understand why he had been allowed to return. Damn my inner Gryffindor.

I had been there, at the hearing, when Snape had been brought before the full Wizengamot to answer for the murder charges.

Because of that, I was fortunate enough to see the evidence first hand, in the form of Pensieved memories that Professor McGonagall had found in Dumbledore's office.

While Snape had been the one to cast the curse, he had been forced to do so by Dumbledore.

I didn't approve of his choice, but I couldn't fault him, either.

Unfortunately, as much of a miserable bastard as he had been before, he was worse now. Gods, was he worse.

But while I could understand, even reluctantly, why they had pardoned Snape, I couldn't help but feel that it was beyond the pale for them to have allowed that albino ferret back.

After all, everything bad that had happened in the last year, maybe more, was Malfoy's fault. He had poisoned Ron. He had almost killed Katie with a cursed necklace. He had put Madam Rosmerta under the Imperious Curse for Merlin's sake, and that was supposed to be UNFORGIVABLE! And he had found a way around the wards to allow Death Eaters into the castle. I mean, at what point does someone FINALLY get EXPELLED?!

Not to mention that he had made the lives of everyone not in Slytherin miserable for the last six years.

During all that time, there were two people he picked on the most. Me and Hermione. Sure, he liked to taunt Ron and Harry, but that was mostly just taunts.

For six years, I had been pushed, pulled, laughed at, humiliated, and otherwise abused by the ferret. Six years.

For those six years I was jealous of Harry, too.

Harry and I had been in almost the same situation. Harry was orphaned and left with his Muggle relatives; I may as well have been orphaned, but was instead left with my controlling Grandmother who I could never please, no matter how hard I tried.

But even though Harry and I had a similar situation, he was powerful and for years everyone told me I wasn't. Everyone. Especially Malfoy and Snape.

And during the last six years Malfoy had made Hermione cry and hurt her more often than Ron had. And that's saying something, since Ron and Hermione had fought more than most married couples.

The sound of a voice clearing pulled me back to the task at hand: my detention with Snape. Now that he was no longer the Potions Master, he couldn't have students spending their detentions preparing disgusting ingredients or cleaning cauldrons using manual labor. As a substitute, he had apparently fallen upon assigning older students stuck in detention with him to care for the dark creatures he used in his third form classes. I had already spent two hours this evening changing the water and cleaning the grindylow tanks.

"Mr. Longbottom, after you have finished that tank, you are dismissed for the evening."

"Yes, sir," I answered him, cleaning with a bit more vigor.

Snape went back to ignoring me, and I went back to my musings while I cleaned.

Gods, how could Hermione have sided with Malfoy today? Fifty points! And a detention! And I hadn't even drawn my wand!

Even Snape wouldn't have taken that many points off!

Well, he probably wouldn't have.

Well, he might have.

Had I really been that bad? I mean, she took the points off of her own House!

All right, so maybe I started it. For once. But Malfoy started it plenty of times.

It was just so hard to be back this year. Everything was different.

First, there was no Dumbledore. It was just plain strange without him.

And then, last night we had gotten up to our room, and it was wrong. Everything was off without Ron there. It was hard on all of us. But the look on Harry's face when he looked at the empty corner that had housed the bed which had been Ron's for years... it was like he had to say good bye all over again.

So this morning, when I had walked into class and been faced with Malfoy, the ferret, the one who had tormented me and my friends for years, the one who shouldn't have been allowed back, and yet, there he was... and Ron missing... well, I just couldn't help myself. I didn't even want to try to help myself.

Gods. What a mess.

I guess I needed to talk to Hermione.

With a sigh, I finished cleaning the tank and put away my supplies.

Snape looked up at me as I was getting ready to leave, an eyebrow raised.

"Same time tomorrow, Mr. Longbottom."

"Yes, sir," I answered. I didn't fear him anymore. This summer had changed all of us Gryffindors. We had all fought to the end, and I think we all felt a little suffocated returning to school. But even though I no longer feared Snape, I did realize I should probably respect him at least a little.

With a quick nod, I let myself out of his classroom and headed back to Gryffindor tower.

*****

Blaise's Point of View

****

I awoke to a knocking on the door. Yawning, I went to see what Granger wanted.

I was therefore shocked to find the space in front of my bedroom door empty.

Turning, I could still here the knocking, and realized it was coming from the door to the Slytherin common room.

I shuffled over to the door, still not fully awake, and pulled it open to reveal an awake and all too chipper appearing Draco.

"I take it you're not ready for breakfast yet?"

"How could you guess?"

"Hmm, well, the pajamas are a bit of a give away, as is the tousled hair. And the morning breath," Draco answered, smirking.

"It's still early."

"So? I'll wait in your common room. Get dressed."

Rolling my eyes, I shut the door behind him and pulled out a clean uniform shirt and trousers. I headed into my part of the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face and wet my hair down to comb it into place after relieving my night-filled bladder.

Tugging on my uniform, I met Draco in my common room, where he was sitting discussing yesterday's Transfiguration lesson with Granger.

"Professor McGonagall said that mastering Transfiguring one animal into another was a useful skill if one wishes to become an Animagus."

"Yes, but I still don't see why. I mean, how does Transfiguring one animal into another make it easier to Transfigure yourself?"

"I believe it has to do with the picturing of the animal shape in question in your mind's eye."

"But how, Granger? You don't know what you are turning into, at least not the first time."

"Hmm, I'll have to ask her. I haven't seen any references to why..."

Draco smirked at her admission.

"So, Blaise, are you ready?" Draco asked, noticing my standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Yes, you prat, I am."

"All right, then. Granger, would you like to walk with us to breakfast?"

"Ah, sure, I guess," she answered. It was clear from the look on her face that she did not expect the invitation, and she was probably wondering what her entrance into the Great Hall along with two Slytherins would mean for her future relations with her own House.

Draco's breeding came through in his next series of movements. He picked up her bag from its place on the floor with a grunt, and shot her a look of condensation. "Do you carry all of your books in here at once?"

"Just what I need for the day's classes."

"Why don't you shrink them?"

"I... oh..." The look of revelation on Granger's face was priceless.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Draco opened the door to the Head common room, and allowed Granger and myself to precede him out.

When we arrived in the Great Hall there was an immediate drop in the ambient noise as heads turned to look at our admittedly strange group. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables quickly turned back to their food and gossip, but the looks of incredulity from the Slytherins were only matched by the glares from the Gryffindors.

Without warning, a shriek rent the generally subdued chatter picking up from the two House tables which were studiously ignoring us. Pansy flew from her spot at the Slytherin table and made a beeline for where Draco, Granger and I were standing as Draco proceeded to return Granger's bag to her.

"Draco, how could you touch her contaminated things? I knew you had sunk low, but I never thought you would be so desperate as to try and integrate yourself with that filthy Mudblood bitch! It's not like she's just any Mudblood, either! She's the bitch who killed your father!"

While the noise had been returning to normal in the Great Hall, Pansy's shrieking and her choice of language caused immediate silence. It seemed everyone in the Hall was waiting for a reaction from the Gryffindors: either the Head Girl herself, or the quickly moving reinforcements. Apparently, even mad at her for defending Draco yesterday, they wouldn't leave her to the likes of Pansy.

Remembering her defense of Draco yesterday, I decided the politically correct thing to do would be to return the favor. And unlike Granger's apparent friendship of Longbottom, I had no such softness towards Pansy.

"Pansy, that was uncalled for," I told her in my best Snape-imitation voice, which, though quiet, carried clearly in the deathly silence of the Great Hall in the wake of Pansy's outburst.

"Miss Granger is the Head Girl, and you would be wise to remember that and show her the proper respect. I counted five words in your diatribe that should never have passed your lips: two Mudbloods, two bitches, and a filthy. As far as I can tell since we now share a bathroom, Miss Granger does in fact bathe regularly. And I am fairly certain she is not a dog." At this I allowed my gaze to linger on her turned-up pug nose, although I didn't make any comment aloud. She clearly caught my meaning, though, since she turned a bright red. "Further, while Miss Granger is Muggle-born, I have seen her bleed before, and I never thought it looked particularly muddy. So, five words..."

I took a deep breath, steeling my courage. I was not a Gryffindor, after all, and this could well get me blacklisted in my House forever. "Fifty points from Slytherin and five detentions. I will arrange them with the Headmistress and let you know when and where you will be serving them." Looking over to my stunned House table, I added in a louder voice, "We are having a House meeting tonight at ten o'clock. It is mandatory. Be there." And with that, I escorted Granger to her place at the Gryffindor table under the gaze of the entire school and returned to my own spot.

The look Granger shot me as I approached her normal place was worth the points, though. It was like she was seeing me for the first time.

"Thank you, Zabini." Her voice was quiet, but the look in her eyes said that whatever barrier of House rivalry had existed between us for the last six years was gone. Now there was just us. Not exactly friends, not yet. But no longer enemies, either.

I nodded my understanding and returned to my spot at the Slytherin table.

As I approached my House table, it didn't take me long to recognize the shifts in the power currents that had occurred. Last year, Draco had been the center of the table, having the most powerful connections, and everyone had shuffled to be as close to him as possible. Especially Pansy.

Last night, Draco had been seated on the end, with the central power belonging to Pansy and Theo.

After the scene that had just occurred, Draco was back to the center of the table, and Pansy and Theo were now stuck towards the end, lower in status than anyone except some first years from families no one knew...

With a sigh I took the seat that had been left open for me next to Draco, our friendship having been long unspoken was now out in the open for the whole school to see.

As I munched my way through toast and coffee, I couldn't help but wonder what the changes would mean in the long-term. Glancing up at the High Table, I caught the eye of my Head of House, and the short nod he sent in my direction.

Feeling a bit better with his approval, I hurried to finish my breakfast before it was time to head to the first class of the day.

*****

Hermione's Point of View

****

To say that I was in shock was probably an understatement. The shifts in my relations with Zabini and Malfoy in the last forty-eight hours were astounding. Who would have ever thought we would be civil to each other? I certainly hadn't.

As I sat in my normal place at the Gryffindor table, having been escorted there by the Slytherin Head Boy, I wasn't quite sure what to say to my long-time friends. Zabini had just defended me. Against one of his fellow Slytherins.

He had just taken as many points from Slytherin as I had from Gryffindor for what Neville had done yesterday.

Gods, he had done the same thing I had.

Actually, I realized he had been harder on Pansy. He had given her five detentions.

Good Lord! Five detentions and fifty points! For calling me names. She hadn't even gone for a wand.

Taking a deep breath, I knew I had to talk to Snape. Soon. He had given me the points back, and made me promise not to tell anyone. It wasn't fair for Slytherin to lose the points after Gryffindor had been given them back...

My head was hurting, and in all this time, no one at the table had even said hello to me.

I couldn't repress the sigh as I focused on my plate of kippers and toast.

Apparently, it wasn't as quiet a sigh as I thought, because a moment later I felt Harry's arm go around my shoulders.

I looked up and into the eyes of my best friend.

"It seems you were right, Hermione. They don't all seem to be evil." He somehow managed to say it with a straight face, but hearing his words, I couldn't hold in my snort of laughter.

Seeing the smile on my face, he let out a chuckle of his own, which only fed mine. Before long, we were both in tears, laughing so hard. People looked at us like we were insane, which maybe we were. But regardless, the tension that had been between the two of us since our Defense class yesterday drained away with our laughter.

"Could you see the look on Snape's face when Zabini defended you?"

"No, what did it look like."

"Pleased. It makes me wonder what he's up to."

"Harry, did you ever think he's not up to anything. That he's just pleased to see the Head Students working together and putting House rivalry behind us?"

"No."

I couldn't help but start laughing at his monosyllabic answer, which set him off again, too.

"You're probably right."

"So, Hermione, when do I get to come and see your new rooms?"

"Tonight after classes?"

"Sounds good. I've missed you."

"I know. I've missed you, too. It has been quite strange to be spending time with Zabini and Malfoy instead of you and..." My voice faltered, not sure if I could bring myself to say Ron's name or what Harry's reaction would be.

"It's okay, Hermione. I know. It's weird for me, too."

I looked at his face and realized how much strain he must be under being in their old room without Ron. My surroundings had mostly changed this year, so as hard as it had been for me to see Ron's empty chair at breakfast, I hadn't been being bombarded with memories like Harry probably had been...

In the short time it took me to think that, the tears that I had been shedding on and off since the fateful day that the wizarding world had once again shifted came again and there was nothing I could do to muffle the sobs that escaped at the thoughts of our losses. I could only marvel at how fast I could go from laughter to tears.

Once again, I felt Harry's arm circle my shoulder as he brought my head into his chest, letting me cry against him.

"I know, Hermione, I know," he whispered.

***

After the excitement of breakfast, the rest of my day passed in general calm.

I managed to find Snape alone in his classroom before lunch and hesitantly knocked on the door.

"Enter," his voice called out.

"Professor Snape, I was wondering if I might have a quick word with you, sir."

"Obviously, Miss Granger, otherwise you would not have knocked on my door."

Flushing slightly, I reminded myself not to let him fluster me. "Yes, sir." I took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, sir, as you were in the Great Hall this morning, I'm sure you are aware of the... confrontation that occurred between Miss Parkinson and me."

"Miss Granger, as I was there, I can be quite sure that confrontation is a misnomer. You did not say a word. Therefore, I feel it would be fair to refer to it as a verbal assault."

For a moment all I could do was stare at Snape. First he had given me points, and now he was taking my side, my side, against one of his Slytherins? Once I had regained my equilibrium, I continued what I had come here to discuss.

"Ah, right. Anyway, I assume then, that you also know the Mr. Zabini deducted fifty points from Slytherin and awarded Miss Parkinson five detentions for her, ah, assault."

"Yes, Miss Granger. I am aware of what Mr. Zabini felt was a fitting punishment for Miss Parkinson's transgressions."

"Well, sir, I promised you I wouldn't discuss what you said and did yesterday after class, and so I cannot take this to the other professors, but I don't believe it fair that Slytherin should lose fifty points because of Miss Parkinson's actions since Gryffindor didn't really lose fifty points for Neville's. However, as a Head Student, I cannot give points, only deduct them. I was hoping, sir, that you would award Mr. Zabini fifty points for his defense of me this morning."

Hearing this, Snape's eyebrows rose to his hairline, and his jaw dropped open in shock.

"It's only fair, sir," I defended my position, seeing his reaction.

"I appear to have underestimated your sense of Gryffindor fair play, Miss Granger. You are aware that, were the tables reversed, Mr. Zabini would not be here asking me to give you back the points?"

"Mr. Zabini and his actions in a reverse scenario are not the point, Professor. The point is that it is not fair to deduct the House points from Slytherin when they were not deducted from Gryffindor for the same thing. And further, the point was made, clearly, that needed to be made, that such behavior would not be tolerated. From either side."

Snape sighed and looked at me closely. "All right, Miss Granger. I will acquiesce to your wishes. Fifty points to Mr. Zabini of Slytherin, for promoting inter-House unity."

"Thank you, sir." And with that, I turned and left his classroom.

***

By dinner time, the strange looks had stopped from the rest of the school, and I decided to accompany Harry to the common room. We had decided that Harry's tour of my new rooms could wait. After my breakdown earlier, I needed to visit the Gryffindor common room and come to accept that Ron wasn't there, waiting for us in his normal seat by the fire.

Walking into the common room, I couldn't help but remember all the time I had spent here with Ron. There was the spot I first hugged him, and that chair by the fire was where he had always sat to play chess with Harry. My eyes drifted to the table where the three of us had always done our homework together, thinking back to all his complaints about my obsessive need to regiment our time.

There were also less pleasant memories of Ron in this room.

The chair where he and Lavender had spent the majority of last year snogging. The exact spot where Ron and I had battled over my strange relationship with Viktor Krum. The place where he had stood when Harry had been selected a tri-wizard champion and he had tried to throw away four years of friendship in a fit of jealousy.

Coming into this room, it felt like Ron should come bounding down the stairs at any moment. It was hard to really accept that he never would, no matter how long we waited.

Looking at Harry, I saw that he was fighting the same battle I was, to not break down in front of the entire House.

With a nod, I motioned him some chairs by the fire.

"Harry, do you want to go to my room instead?"

He sighed, "No, Hermione, I have to face it, and running away won't help."

I nodded at him, realizing he was right.

For several minutes we just sat there, enjoying each other's company and taking strength in our shared history.

With a sigh, I reached into my bag and extracted my Transfiguration text, determined to attempt to finish my homework. After a few more minutes, Harry followed suit. For a while we studied in silence.

Later that evening, Neville came through the portrait hole, back from his detention.

"Hermione, can I have a word?"

"Ah, of course..."

Neville came over and stood in front of my chair. For a long moment I had trouble meeting his eyes, afraid of what I'd see there. He waited for me to look at him, but when I hesitated, he got down on his knees in front of me.

"Hermione, I'm sorry I blamed you yesterday for putting me in my place. Better you than the greasy git."

"Neville, I'm sorry I was so harsh with you."

"Well, you were harsh, but, well, it wasn't a very Gryffindor thing for me to do in the first place, was it?"

"Actually, I think it was," I said to my longtime friend and supporter with a smile. "However, there might have been a better time to release your inner lion..."

Neville rolled his eyes in response. "Yeah, probably anywhere Snape wasn't."

I chuckled at that. "Neville, do you forgive me for my harsh reaction? It was uncalled for, for me to be so hard on you. I was just surprised. I'm used to Malfoy starting the fights; it really took me by surprise when someone else did..."

"Of course I forgive you."

"Thank you."

I looked at the clock over the mantle and realized how late it was getting.

"I'm going to head back to my room. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow," I said to Harry and Neville.

"Night, then," Harry said with a nod.

Neville smiled as I left Gryffindor tower to make my way to the Head dorm.

****

Blaise's Point of View

*******

I had watched Granger out of the corner of my eye all through breakfast after her encounter with Pansy. As I watched her, I had noticed that she seemed to be back in the good graces of her Housemates. Potter had his arm around her through much of the meal, and I couldn't help but see both the laughter and the tears that accompanied the meal. I could only hope she wasn't laughing at my expense, or crying because of Pansy.

Time today had passed strangely. At some points it had seemed to creep along, while at others it had rushed. Breakfast had passed slowly as everyone was so quiet, especially at the Slytherin table, as everyone was trying to assimilate the new way to treat the Head Girl.

My classes that included Pansy also seemed to drag on, although she kept quiet, seemingly content throwing me vicious glares from the back of the room.

The classes that Pansy didn't take with me seemed to be fairly normal, with only a few whispered comments directed towards my back.

Granger was apparently oblivious to the changes within the power structure of Slytherin. Of course, that's about what I expected from the brash Gryffindor.

Dinner that night was a subdued affair at the Slytherin table, and I left as quickly as I could. I had decided that I would spend this time planning out exactly what I wanted to impress on my Housemates tonight in our meeting.

I decided what I had to get them to understand was exactly what Snape had said to me: Slytherin House had to rebuild its reputation. Therefore, we as a group had to put our inherent strength at politics to good use: using it strategically to better our place within the school. I'd let them try and figure out the best way to do that...

As I left the Great Hall to go to the Head common room, I couldn't help but glance at the hourglasses in the Entry Hall that showed the current House points. This morning, after I had taken away the points from Pansy, the hourglass had been decidedly empty, but this evening, it looked like nothing had changed. I looked at the Gryffindor hourglass and saw that it also didn't look to have faced a massive point loss.

Curious. Very curious.

****

When I stepped through the portrait of Salazar Slytherin and arrived in the common room that night, I found every available seat taken, and a number of younger Slytherins crowded around the walls. It seems that my Housemates had taken my comment about the meeting being mandatory quite seriously, and they were all here. Well, except for Pansy, who was currently serving detention with Filch.

Smiling over the heads of my Housemates, I cleared my throat and quickly the room came to attention. I motioned for Draco to join me by the fireplace, so that he could help me to conduct this meeting, and with a quickly suppressed grin, he did.

"Thank you for all being here promptly. I don't want for this meeting to drag on, but I feel that there are some things we need to discuss.

"At the beginning of this term, it was made clear to me that Slytherin's reputation as a House has been quite sullied by the actions of some of our alumni and by our actions within the walls of Hogwarts."

There was a generally murmuring of irritation at my words, although no one tried to deny them.

"Therefore, it was brought to my attention that a significant effort needed to be put forth this year to rebuild our proper place within Wizarding society."

Again, this was met with dark looks but no disagreement.

"There is no need for me to tell anyone in this room that image is important. If I did, you wouldn't have been Sorted into Slytherin."

Some small smiles at this statement.

"Therefore, I don't think anyone in this room fails to understand how detrimental to our cause as a House outbursts like the one that occurred this morning are, do I?"

This received some thoughtful looks and negative shakes of the head. Good, I could see they were thinking, considering all the potential fallout from actions like Pansy's.

"The Head Girl, for all her lack of linage, is all around a powerful person. While she doesn't have family connections of her own, she is closely tied to the Weasley family, and they are currently enjoying quite a bit of popular support. She is also friendly with a number of politically powerful people through her involvement in the War, not the least of whom is St. Potter. She was, after all, there. Not to mention her part in the final defeat of the Dark Lord. In addition to her political power, she is a personally powerful witch. Anyone in seventh year will attest to this."

I paused here, and all the seventh years nodded quickly, not that they really needed to.

"Therefore, antagonizing her is not a good choice. Not for your health, or the reputation of our House. My actions today in taking away points were in effect damage control. It's early in the year, and we can easily make up the points." Maybe we already had?

Again I received the thoughtful looks and a few nods.

"All right then. Don't antagonize Granger. Or Potter. Or any of the Gryffindors, if you can avoid it."

More nods.

I looked around the room and saw thoughtful expressions on the faces of my Housemates. It appears they were all thinking about what I'd said. For now, that's all I could hope for.

"All right. That's easy to say, but what does it mean to you?"

"Ah, no calling her a Mudblood?" Vince asked from the back of the room.

"That's a start," Draco answered him.

At Draco's speaking up, all eyes turned to him, so he continued, "I'd recommend avoiding calling her names at all, if you can help it. I have been spending some time with her, and she's not so bad."

The looks on the faces gathered before me contained mostly shock at Draco's comments.

"I think the most important thing to remember is to not start anything. Defend yourselves, but don't start anything."

The shock was again being replaced by concentration, and again some nods.

"All right, just try and think things through, and don't attack anyone." I looked around the room and caught the eye of all the older students who had the longest animosities with students in other Houses.

"Draco, do you have any announcements about Quidditch?" I asked him.

"Yes. I booked the Pitch for all day on Saturday. A try-outs schedule by position will be posted here in the common room on Thursday. Anyone may sign up for a slot."

The looks changed from thoughtful to calculating.

"Any questions for either myself or our Quidditch captain?" I asked the room.

When no one moved or spoke up, I nodded and said, "Dismissed."

As the room cleared out, I turned to Draco, "I'm headed back to my room. It's been a long day, and I want to get a good night sleep. Go ahead and knock in the morning again and we'll go to breakfast together."

"Sounds like a plan," he replied.

With a curt nod, I headed back through the portrait of Slytherin and into my room.

Stripping out of my uniform, I got into bed and was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. My dreams that night were strange. Not bad, just strange. They circled around the changes I had noticed that day in Granger; of us talking and hesitantly becoming... friends.

I awoke in the middle of the night, and couldn't stop thinking about the weird dreams. I felt strangely content in her presence in my dreams.

Yawning, I rolled over and went back to sleep, not to awaken again until morning.